Rachel
DNF at 25%
This book was a suggestion from August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows.
Books like this you expect cliches, convenient plotlines, and fun little cozy mysteries. They're cheesy Hallmark style stories meant to help you kill an afternoon.
But THIS?? It's no Hallmark movie. It's more like a first draft for a really bad Hallmark movie. It's beyond ridiculous. Yes, yes these types of books are supposed to be ridiculous. But this is BEYOND ridiculous. A woman decides on a whim to go to Europe after her divorce. She decides she'll stay as long as she wants. No regards to customs and policies of England. She conveniently finds an old man who rents her the perfect fixer up sea-side manor. But oh the sweet old man is so gullible he's willing to rent it for $20 a day. A DAY! In a town where all the other rooms are booked for holiday travelers. But wait. There's more. He conveniently had an open storefront after the tennants dissapeared with ALL their stock in the middle of the night. How perfect! She has decided she's going to rent it. She goes online and applies for an extended business visa and TADA within 24 hours she has a business visa. Now she's the belle of the town opening up a cute little antique shop in a town in Wilfordshire.
Between the MC's self righteousness and the complete disregard to how governments work, well I had to give it up. This was awful. I was just waiting for the MC to be offed to put us all out of our misery.
This was an August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows recommendation.
Tom Sawyer meets Scooby Doo meets Goonies.
A fun little adventure of kids solving a mystery together to save the day against some evil adults.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
I did not find this funny or silly at all. A trex lost his glasses and make a bunch of errors in his day. TBH, even if you did lose your glasses you'd still be able to tell that is a toilet or that it was a fellow dinosaur instead of a kite. It wasn't cute. wasn't funny.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation.
Disjointed. Hard to follow probably better for dancers
AUGUST 2020 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
It's no Miss Frizzle, but still does a good job explaining science. Probably good for 7th or 8th graders.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows recommendation.
Throwing this into the DNF pile at the 22% mark of the Audiobook.
By all accounts I should have enjoyed this. Opening up a tea shop with a large inheritance. Sounds fun. But this book just rubbed me the wrong way. The MC was aggravating. Yet she was “perfect” and this was “perfect” and everything was “perfect”. Also, where is her math skills? She inherited something like $230k from her deceased aunt. She buys a teashop for nearly that exact price. Then goes on a shopping spree for everything in the shop, let alone inventory. Also... uhhh TAXES?? Hello. She didn't have a job at the beginning of the story and seemed down on her luck, soo where's this extra $100k she spent.
In theory I should have enjoyed some of this book. The writing wasn't bad. The story had some points and a pace, but the pace was incredibly slow, drawn out. and I found her chipper bulldozer attitude irritating. If you're going to become part of the community, how about try to make friends instead of enemies across the board?... I have plenty of other books to read and since this hasn't been entertaining for the last 2 hours, I'm tossing it aside for something better.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation.
SO CUTE! Super quick read, but adorable pictures. Babies and parents will enjoy.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
Tossing in the DNF pile. I have tried a few times but can't get into this. The artwork is fine, very 1940s noir meets Animaniacs. It could have been interesting, but the font choice made this very very difficult to read.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation.
Adorable little story paired with beautiful illustrations. They are great to look at and would make a cute addition as artwork in a kids room.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
What a weird mashup. I know Hasbro owned both of these franchises but never expected to see a mashup of the two.
They keep do well to keep the integrity of both franchieses. tbh I expected robotic ponies. Overall it was ok. I find mashups sort of fun but always like something is missing.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
Cute little book. A bit disappointed by the ending but I got a few good smiles from it.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows recommendation
Not sure why there are so many negative reviews. I thought this was a good little informative book for young kids, maybe 6 or 7 year olds. It is not very in depth but does a great job as an overview of lighthouses that is easy to follow and understand. There is a good collection of images to support and help with basic understanding.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
WHAT what this author thinking?!?!?! This is a cute little children's book. You spend the pages following cute little creatures as they ask about joining a picnic and telling you what they'd like to eat. Then at the end they meet a tiger who decides to eat them all!! All those CUTE little creatures you meant? Yup, they're dinner for the tiger.
This should absolutely NOT be read to a child unless you want to traumatize them.
What a pity that the last page undermines what was a cute book with cute images.
Bummer. This one was not quite up to par with Books 1&2.
First of all, the Dragon sidekick was adorable. That was about it for this book.
Unfortunately there was some unfortunate cliches in this book
(Spoilers beyond this point)
Axel suddenly breaking up with Pepper? It was just such a convenient and poorly contrived plotpoint. Also reitterates the fact that they are so bad at communication. Just be adults about it. “Hey Pepper, my brother is coming into town, for your safety we need to maintain our distance.” See ADULT. The breakup was unecessary drama.
THEN the really bad cliche.... Axel is a TWIN! OMG..... eyeroll I really really really hate this trope! WHY is it always good twin versus bad twin! Such a poorly contrived twist.
Then we get to the end and all is well and perfect? Nah, idc how sexy Mr Sexy is, his poor communication skills and need to hide things is emotionally immature. You wanna be together? Then be up front and communicate. This book had me really disliking Axel.
Also, Pepper's constant change of attitudes towards the baby dragon AND her need to sell him right away? She acts like she is enjoying her job at the familiar shop but still hating animals. Then you get the ultra rare baby dragon and you hate it too? Despite it calling you mama? How heartless.
Hoping book 4 improves.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
Some very interesting facts I have never heard (or thought about asking). Facts about pooping, burping, and eating. TBH it's things that I didn't really want to know. Especially the fact about poop being left on the moon and scientists wondering if anything is growing on the poo. It's gross, but a young kid may love it. They are just random enough to catch their interest. Just watch out parents because they will bring up these facts at the worst possible moment.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
I don't understand why there are so many negative reviews. I thought this book was adorable and very realistic. It's a parallel of two single parents and the blending of families. In this case, a fox and a badger family. I thought the silly fights between the kids was accurate to figuring out how to all live together.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
I'm used to odd graphic novels but this was just too disjointed to follow.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
I was expecting this to be a joke, like Crocodiles were allowed but croc shoes were not.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
What a cute little chapter book! This is a great book for any young child who loves dogs. In this book we follow Jax, a ranch dog who protects his heard of sheep. Looks like there are more books in the series that cover other jobs that dogs perform. It's great to see a well written series about all the ways dogs help.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recomendation
What a fantastic little book!
First of all, this is NOT a book to binge in one sitting. This is a book you pick up when the world is overwhelming or when you need help to ground yourself. Flip to a random page, read that little comic. Take a deep breath and recenter yourself.
This is the perfect little book for your coffee table. Something to grab at a moments notice. Full of fantastic little images and small pieces of text like “the crunch of leaves on the sidewalk”.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation.
DNF at 45% (Audiobook)
I started this book a few weeks ago while I was looking for a cozy mystery from my book pile. Unfortunately this one was pretty misleading. It says it is the first in a series, but it is the first in a NEW series featuring old characters from another series. Much of this book is spent recapping the complex relationships from the previous series. So much so that it's exhausting to follow and becomes a turn off. Eventually I switched over to a new book and realized I had no desire to go back and finish this one. I think I might have enjoyed it a little more if I had read the other series first, but I doubt it. It just didn't have that spark. More like a bonus episode that does ok but is a filler.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation
This story hits differently when you know Kafka was dying of starvation while he was writing this book.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows recommendation.
DnF at 70% od the Audiobook.
This book is not what I expected. Based on the title, I expected kids dealing with a dragon unleashed in a library. At the 70% mark the only dragon we've encountered is in a book. I stead it's about an evil man named Salt who is trying to buy the library. Maybe he's a dragon? Idk, but at this point I don't really care.
The book also about a young kid who learns they are a wizard, the youngest in history. Then there are the traditional kid screw ups.
Overall the kids were fun, but some plotlines (like the new book all being checked out, and buying a library) were too far fetched. There was also a lot of explanation about the Wizarding world and its orders. It was a lot of information and rules all at once. And it became like sandpaper on skin whenever a new rule was stated.
August 2022 Hoopla Bonus Borrows Recommendation.
Ok I'm not discrediting the difficult journey and medical issues that the author went through. I'm basing this on the summary and formatting of the book. Based on the summary I expected to hear insights and interviews with many successful people. Instead there are small blips about successful people, but the book is mostly about the medical issues the author encountered and how she dealt with it. The book also is filled with advice on what we should do to be successful. The advice is good, but the directive of the book is disjointed and waves between an inspiring biography, a self help book, and a view at successful professionals.
Another way I'd describe this is... a journal entry or a report after therapy. It likely helped the author process her emotions, her feelings, and helping her press on through success.